Water-heating faucet



DLF; BRUMAN. WATER HEATING FAUCET. APPLICATiON FILED APR. 13, 192].

1 429 0 0 Pate n ted Se t. 12, 1922.-

Patented Sept. 12, 1922.

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

o'r'ror. BRUMAN, or airmen-mun, swrrznnnmn; ASSIGNORYTO rnsrAA. 6., or

. l mien, SWITZERLAND.

*wA'rnn-rmurmo rumour. i

mums aieaa ruia, 1021; Serial no. 461,079.

To all whom it may; concern: v

Be'it knownthat I, Orr'ro F. BRUMAN, a citizen of the Swiss Republic, and a resident of Zurich-Enge, Switzerland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Water- Heating Faucets,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates toimprovements in that class of faucets which have electrical attachments "for heating the flowing water, and in which the liquid itself act as a resistanoe medium, The object of m inventin is generally to. produce a simp e, practical, and convenient faucet which can be connected in the ordinary metallic way with the supply pipe without fear of loss of current, and which has the electrodes supported on the barrel of the faucet in such a way] as to be perfectly insulated, with the electrodes one within the other, and in which the faucet can be operated in the usual way and made to'permit cold water to runfreely through it, in which case the electric current is out out, or which can be turned so that the flowing water will pass between the electrodes in such a manner as to be heated by electric resistance. This arrangement is effected by a switch on the spindle of the faucet which when turned a certain distance, opens the fauoetto the flow of water, but cuts in the current to the electrodes, thereby heating the, water, and

. which when turned a further distance cuts out the current but permits the'water to flow freely-f The invention is further intended to produce an economical arrangement of the electrodes by which the current will be used to advantage in heating the water quickly, and in which there is little danger of current leakage. The invention is further intendedto provide a casing for the electrodes through which the water flows, and to construct the casing with safety outlets so that there is no danger of the water rising under any circumstances and short circuiting the heating apparatus. These and other advantages will appear from the description which follows. Y

Referenceis tobe had to the accompanying drawings formin a part ofthis specification, in which simi ar reference characters indicate corresponding parts all the views.

. a 7 suitable .Figure 1 is a vertical lOngi-tudinalsectiOn through the apparatus, and

F1gurer2 1s a d1agran1matioview of the o have shown a conventional faucet body or 1 barrel 1 0, having the customary screw connection .11 with the water supply pipe 12.. The barrel 10 has thecustoniary bore 13- at.

its inner end, and at the outerehd of theborc is a seat 14 for the needle valve on the end of the spindle 15,.which is a conventional arrangement,and the spindle screws in and out as usual. The spindle is provided with handle 16 at its outer end for turningit. 1 g

Suspended on the barrel 10 and properly spaced thereon is an insulating body 117 having a bore 18 Y vertically therethrough, and this registers with a port 19 in the faucet body so that when the faucet is open the waterwill flow freely through the bore 13;, port 19, and bore 18. a Atthe lower end of the body 17 is atubular electrode 20, the bore of whichregisters with the bore 18, and this is surrounded by a cup-shaped electrode 21 ofthe same cross.

is reduced as at 17 a to permit the electrode 21 to fit nicely thereon. The electrode 21 is closed at the bottom except for a vent 21 and this can be closed by insulating material if desired, as shown in Figure 2. The member 21 is preferably covered by' a protective insulation 21". 1 p v 1 Through the upper part of the electrode 21 are ports 22 through which the water can flow, and both electrodes 20 and 21, as well as-the lower part of the insulating body 17 are enclosed in a casing '23, which can it desired be of metal, andwhich is thoroughly insulated from the electrodes by the member 17 and by the spacing distance. The members 20 and 21 are spaced so thatzthewater flowing between them will offer sufficient resistance to be quickly and thoroughly heated, and the casing 23 is spaced sufliciently from the electrode 21 so that there will be no loss of current in way, and this is additionally safeguarded by the protective insulating coating 21*.

At the lower end of thecasing 23 is an outlet 24 above which is preferably arranged a screen 25, and spaced apart from the main outlet, and arranged around the casing, is a gallery of openings 25 throughwhich the water may flow if it rises to this height. By reference to Figure 1 it will be seen that these openings are made so that the down flowing water will not pass through them, but that the rising water will. The object of this arrangement is to prevent any possible short circuiting, and. if the main outlet becomes clogged, or the sieve 25 becomes clogged, the water rising will flow out through the openings 25 and can by no possibility rise to a suiiicient height to short circuit the apparatus.

A convenient way to make the holes 25 so that the down flowing water shall not pass out throu h them,is to punch in the metal of the casing so as to leave shieldlike members 26 on the inner side, or if the casing is not of metal, these can be otherwise formed to produce the same result.

The spindle 15 of the faucet switch 27 on which are contacts 28 which can be conveniently flat springs, and these are adapted to make contact with the segmental contacts 29' and 30 which are curved to the circles representedby the inner and outer parts of the contact pieces 28, and which can be supported in any suitable way. One of the contact members 29 connects by a wire a with the positive supply wire A, ml

the other connects by the wire Z) with the return wire B. One of the contacts 30 connects by a wire 0 with the inner electrode 20, and the other contact piece 30 connects with the outer electrode 21 by the wire d. It will be seen then that when the valve is opened and turned to a certain distance, the water will flow through, and the spring contacts 28 will close the circuit through the contact pieces 29 and 30 and through the electrodes, the current flowing from the wire A, through the wire a, a contact piece 29, one of the spring contacts 28, the contact piece 30, the wire a, the electrode 20; the water passing between the two electrodes to the outer elec trode 21, the wire 03, a contact piece 30, the second contact spring 28, the contact piece 29, and the wire I) to the line wire B.

If the faucet is opened further, however, and the spindle 15 turned to a greater distance, the circuit is broken, because the contact springs 28 will pass off the contact strips, and cold water can then flow freely through. the faucet.

It'will be seen from the foregoing description that the invention is very simple, that the electrodes are thoroughly insulated, that the faucet can have the usual metallic connections, that there is no danger of leakcarries a age of current, and that the connection of the casing 23 with the faucet barrel 10 is such that there is nochance for leakage through hygroscopic action.

I claim 1. A water heating attachment for faucets comprising an insulating body directly connected to the faucet barrel, said body having a bore extending through it and connecting with the bore of the faucet barrel, a cupsha'ped electrode suspended from the insulating body and provided with ports near its upper end, and a shorter and second electrode having a bore extending t-herethrough enclosed in and spaced apart from the cupshaped electrode, said electrode being directly connected with the insulating body so as to register with the bore thereof.

2. An attachment for faucets according to claim 1, characterized by the further fact that the cup-shaped electrode is provided with an exterior insulating coating.

3. A water heating attachment for faucets comprising an insulating body suspended from and directly connected to the barrel of the faucet and provided with a bore connecting with the bore of the faucet, an inner electrode connected'with the insulating body and having a bore therethrough aligning with the bore of said insulating body, a cupshaped electrode suspended directly from the insulatingbody and entirely enclosing the inner electrode, said cup-shaped electrode having ports through the upper part thereof, and a casing enclosing the insulating body and the electrodes, said casing having an outlet at a point below the bottom of the cup-shaped electrode.

4. A water heating attachment for faucets comprising an insulating body having a bore to receive the barrel of faucet and having a vertical bore connecting with the bore of the faucet, inner and outer electrodes suspended from the insulating body and spaced apart therefrom, the outer electrode being closed at the bottom and provided with side ports, and a casing enclosing the electrodes and insulating body, said casing having a bottom vent and emergency vents in the sides at points above the lower vent.

5. A water heating attachment according to claim 4 in which the emergency vents are characterized by having shields above them whereby the down-flowing water will not pass through them but the rising water will.

6. A water heating attachment for faucets comprising an insulating body adapted to be supported on a faucet barrel and having a bore therethrough to connect with the bore of a faucet, a tubular electrode supported on the insulating body and registering with the bore of said body, a generally cup-shaped electrode also supported on the insulating body and surrounding and spaced apart from the first electrode, said outer electrode having water openings through the upper part thereof, a casing enclosing the electrodes and having a main discharge outlet at the lower part, and emergency outlets above said main outlet and below the bottom of said outer electrode.

7. A Water heating faucet comprising a barrel having a valve spindle thereon to open and close the faucetyand a transverse port behind the valve end ofthe spindle, an insulating body supported on the barrel and having a bore to register wit-h the port of the faucet, a tubular electrode suspended on the insulating body and registering with the bore thereof, an outer generally cup-shaped electrode supported on the same insulating having openings for water through the upper part thereof, a casing enclosing both electrodes and spaced apart from the outer electrode, said casing having suitable vents for Water, a switch on the faucet spindle arran ed to cut in electric current to the electro es when the faucet is opened a certain distance, and to out out the current when the faucet is opened wider, and electrical connections.

. Y OTTO F. BRUMAN.

Witnesses:

CHR.M1LLIEU, D. Gm. 

